Naperville writer finds success with children's mystery novels

Madormo started with a screenplay, then turned to books

Author John Madormo with his three books that feature kid detective Charlie Collier: The Homemade Stuffing Caper, The Camp Phoenix Caper and The Copycat Caper. (Gary Gibula, Special to the Tribune)

For Naperville writer John Madormo, discovering how to promote himself as an author has been as informative as learning whether to market his words as a screenplay or a novel.

Madormo, a communications professor at North Central College and general manager of the campus radio station, dreamed of writing movie screenplays. Although his initial efforts were rebuffed, he refused to give up.

"It's both a vice and a virtue," Madormo said. "In this field, because you hear 'no' so often as a writer, I think it helped me."

After being told that his movie screenplay would have received more consideration if it had been based on a book, Madormo took matters into his own hands.

"Nobody wanted to take a chance on an original idea flopping," he said. "So I said to myself, all right, then I'll create my own derivative material."

Madormo then expanded his 110-page screenplay into a 250-page novel that now has gained national recognition and been placed on reading lists of school districts across the country, including Naperville Districts 203 and 204.

Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire, the character Madormo created, is a middle school student who solves crimes for other classmates. "The Homemade Stuffing Caper," the first in a series of books, was released in May 2012, with a follow-up, "The Camp Phoenix Caper," placed on shelves in February.

Each volume is written as a first-person narrative from the perspective of a 12-year-old sixth grade boy.

"It took me a year to not only come up with more plot, but also to learn how to write in the fashion of a novel," Madormo said. "There's a science to knowing who's your audience and how to craft the characters."

To promote himself, Madormo found that the literary world would not pay serious attention unless he had an agent. He also sent samples to dozens of major publishers and was rewarded with interest from Penguin Group publishers.

He then joined Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and set out to speak at as many school and literary functions as he could, including a publicity event staged by Anderson's Bookshop and the publisher.

"They had 50 advance copies of my book that were given to selected children who loved to read," Madormo said. "We all then met at Anderson's Aurora location for a dinner and to talk about the book. It was the first time I'd ever received feedback about it from readers."

Madormo said he found out that even though his protagonist was a boy, girls liked to read mysteries. He also discovered that boys will pick up a book if there is a boy depicted on the cover.

"It's also filled with brain teasers, and that's one of the things kids love," Madormo said. "For example, a butcher stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall. What does he weigh?"

"The answer is, a butcher weighs meat," Madormo said.

Another conundrum asks, When does four minus one equal five? It does when Roman numerals are used.

"Suddenly, the book was placed on the summer reading lists and I found out it will be used in the 'battle of the books' next year," Madormo said. "This is the greatest thing that can happen, when schools embrace it."

In addition to Naperville schools, the Charlie Collier books are being used in Glen Ellyn and out-of-state school districts in Oregon, Iowa, Massachusetts and New York City. Penguin lists Madormo's book in a teacher's guide for books that meet Common Core standards.

The kid detective is not a new genre, with Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries in abundance..

"I've been told that this is comparable to Encyclopedia Brown, except with modern references," Madormo said. Encyclopedia Brown is an ongoing series of novels that started in 1963, with the 29th novel in the series published last year. That also was the year author Donald Sobol died.

"It's wonderful to be compared to his work," Madormo said.

The third Charlie Collier book, "The Copycat Caper," is due to be published Sept. 26. In anticipation, Madormo has sent his agent proposals for books four and five in the series.

"Once you get into the habit, the ritual, of writing every day, you just can't stop," Madormo said. "So I've already started on book four, even though the publisher has told me to hold off."

Madormo's advice to fellow scribes is to write something every single day. He said many of his ideas come from being aware of current events.

For young writers, Madormo said notes from a teacher in the margin of an essay should be embraced.

"You have to realize that there's somebody who knows more about this than you do and who only wants to help make it better," Madormo said. "When the teachers make suggestions, look at them, say 'thank you' and get to work."